BELIEVE!
Mark
3:7-12
Introduction: In our look last week at the Sabbath controversies in
Mark 2:23-3:6 the question of the Law, and the spirit of the Law, was touched
on. What is the heart of the matter? Rabbi Shammai said that Moses gave us 365
prohibitions and 248 positive commands in the Law. David in Psalm 15 summarized
them in eleven principles. Isaiah 33:14-15 narrows it down to 6, and Micah 6:8
reduces it down to 3. Habakkuk 2:4 brings it all down to one: “The just shall live by faith.” The
question before us today, is what does it mean to believe? I recall a story
that illustrates how shaky faith can be… A man fell off a cliff but managed to
grab a tree limb in the way down. Hanging on for dear life he called up…
"Is
anyone up there?"
"I am here. I am the Lord. Do you believe me?"
"Yes, Lord, I believe. I really believe, but I can't hang on much
longer."
"That's all right, if you really believe you have nothing to worry about.
I will save you. Just let go of the branch."
A moment of pause, then: "Is anyone else up there?"
Biblical faith is about believing
God, taking Him at His Word. That means believing what Jesus said about who
He is and about who we are, and trusting what He did for us,
acknowledging His way as the only way, and our only hope, for reconciliation and
peace with God. On the second missionary journey, Paul and Silas were
imprisoned in Philippi (Acts 16). After singing and praying through the night,
the place was shaken, their chains fell off and the doors opened. The Jailer awoke, and in his desperation,
thinking all the prisoners had all escaped, he was ready to take his own life.
The missionaries intervened and stopped him from harming himself. In his
brokenness he asked them, “Sirs, what
must I do to be saved?” They answered, “Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved…” (Acts 16:31). What does
that mean? Many people will say
they “believe” in God, but what is saving faith? The religious leaders of
Jesus’ day would have of course said they believed in God! Yet they were so far
from God that they were blind to spiritual truth, and did not recognize their
own Messiah, the Son of God, when He was right there in front of them. One
writer defined the faith that saves:
“Saving faith may…
be defined as a voluntary turning from all hope and grounds based on self-merit,
and assuming an attitude of expectancy toward God, trusting Him to do a perfect
saving work based only on the merit of Christ… (Chafer, True
Evangelism, 55-6).
The BIG Idea: Authentic faith means
seeing the depth of our need, recognizing who Jesus is and what He did, and
entrusting ourself to Him as our Savior and Lord.
I. Jesus is the only hope for the nations (7-8a; cf. Mk
11:17; Jn 14:6; Acts 4:12).
7 Jesus withdrew with his disciples to
the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea 8 and Jerusalem and Idumea and
from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon.
Mark began this Gospel telling us plainly who and
what he was writing about, He wrote in 1:1, “The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” He is writing Good News, in fact, the best news
ever: the promised Messiah has come, his name is Jesus. This Jesus is nothing
less than the Son of God, God the Son! He came in fulfillment of the
Scriptures, to undo the fall, making a way for humans to be reconciled to God.
Since introducing the subject of the gospel in Mk 1:1, Mark has been showing us
how Jesus began to reveal himself to His people, through what He said and what
He did. We’ve also seen some tension in the story, as opposition is already
mounting, and the religious leaders are exposed as blind to the truth about Jesus,
so much so that they conspire with the Herodians to put Jesus to death (3:6)!
And so, Jesus “withdraws”
with His disciples to the sea. The time would come for a final confrontation with
the leaders in Jerusalem, but that time was not yet. For now He would continue
preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and preparing His disciples for the mission
ahead. Mark gives some subtle hints about the extent of the mission.
Twice Mark says that a “great crowd”
followed (7-8). The crowd in Capernaum that made it difficult for four men to
bring their paralyzed friend to Jesus was substantial, but here the numbers are
multiplying! But notice also from whence came the multitude… Notice the places
mentioned… Jesus’ fame is spreading and people are coming from farther away,
Galilee and Judea yes, but also from Idumea in the south and Tyre and Sidon on the
coast, north and west… and from across the Jordan. Despite Jesus’ limited
travel so far, people who saw Him, brought the news, and the word was getting
out that a prophet and miracle worker was there in Galilee.… essentially from
all directions!
Think about that - there was no internet
or television getting the news out about Jesus, but by word of mouth, the message
was spreading, and they came. Now Mark doesn’t specifically tell us here
whether gentiles were part of the great crowd, but certainly from Tyre and
Sidon, and from Decapolis and the trans-Jordan, and even from Galilee itself, it
was likely that this was already a mixed multitude. Later, at the cleansing of
the temple, Jesus will quote yet again from Isaiah, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for the
nations?’” (Mk 11:17; cf. Isa 56:7). Later, after His
death and resurrection, that worldwide mission would become explicit (Mt
28:18-20; Acts 1:8). As Adam brought death and the curse on all humanity, Jesus
would offer life to all who would believe. He would say in the Upper Room, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one
comes to the Father but by me…” (Jn
14:6). Peter would say as he preached in Jerusalem, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is
no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved…” (Acts 4:12). Paul would later say to the
Philippian jailer, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be
saved…” But what is faith? That brings us back to the Big idea: Authentic faith
means seeing the depth of our need, recognizing who Jesus is and what He did,
and trusting Him, that is, entrusting yourself to Him as Savior and Lord.
II. The Fallacy of
purely “temporal” faith: Many people
who don’t know God, look to “a god” for their needs or wants (8b-10).
…When the great crowd heard all that
he was doing, they came to him. 9
And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd,
lest they crush him, 10 for he had healed many, so that all who had
diseases pressed around him to touch him.
The healing at the beginning of Mark 3
was on a Sabbath. Remember that these miracles gave a glimpse of the kingdom,
but they were also revelation that attested to Jesus’ identity. They should
have evoked a response of faith from those who saw them. John spoke of the
writing of his own gospel account of the words and works of Jesus, but he
reflect a concern of all of the Gospel writers when he said,
“Many other signs
did Jesus in the presence of His disciples which are not written in this book…
these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of
God, and that believing, you might have life in His name…” (John 20:30.31).
Even so, the
leaders did not believe. In fact, we’ve already seen in Mk 3:6 in response to the miracle they
counseled together how to destroy Him. But His time had not yet come.
But why
did the crowds come to Jesus? Though Jesus was “…proclaiming the gospel of
God, 15 and saying, ‘The time
is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the
gospel…’” (Mark 1:14-15) it’s clear that many came for other things than to
hear His preaching. Our text gives us some clues: The great crowd of people had heard
reports about what He was doing, that He had healed many, and so they came, trying
to get close to Him. It may be that a portion of the crowd wanted to see who
this man was: could he be the Messiah?
Many had physical needs, some chronic illnesses, others, life threatening
diseases, even demon possession.
What did they
hope He would do for them? Many, no doubt, came for healing. Many surely were coming not primarily to
listen and learn and to know Him, they were coming to see what He could do
for them. A lot of people think of
God in those terms today… they think of God like a Santa Claus to reward them
with things they “need,” or like a genie in bottle to grant their wishes. But
before we judge, think about it, don’t we easily start doing the same thing? God
is God, we are His creatures. He makes the rules, He created everything, He
gets the glory. Don’t misunderstand, trusting God for healing, for help in the
crises of life, for our needs day to day, none of that is a bad thing. In fact,
we are told to ask Him for even our daily bread! But, if we are only trusting Jesus to meet our temporal needs, our
faith falls short.
Summer is winding down, but the weather has
been nice, but it’s even nicer at the shore! Imagine for a moment you decide to
take a trip to the Jersey shore. You arrive, and it’s so nice, you decide to
rent a boat and head out along the coast. It’s smooth and calm, so you head out
into deep water. The land shrinks away behind you, and then… you notice the
boat seems to be riding low in the water… yes, it’s leaking badly! You turn
back but it’s too late, the boat sinks and you are in the water, miles from
land. There you are, treading water, too far to swim, losing hope. Suddenly, as
if out of nowhere, a coastguard boat pulls up to you! Would you say, “I am starting to get
sunburned, could you throw me some sunscreen?” Would you ask, “I’m getting
hungry and my lunch is soggy, could you give me a bite to eat?” Would you ask,
“Which way is land? I want to give it my best shot!” No, you would say “Save
me!” You would reach out for the life preserver they were throwing to you, and as
quickly as possible you would get in the boat! Here is a newsflash: People have a lot of problems! Our biggest
problem dwarfs them all, and is at the root of them all. The Gospel is about God
acting in history to solve the great problem of humanity: SIN. We read
in Ephesians 2:1-5,
And you were dead
in the trespasses and sins 2
in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the
prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of
disobedience- 3 among whom we
all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the
body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of
mankind. 4 But God, being
rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our
trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved…
We were without hope, and
by grace, through faith, He made us alive, reconciled us to God by the blood of
the cross! Trusting God to help us with our needs, or even our wants, is not a
bad thing. But our deepest need is to be rescued, and to know Him, our
Rescuer, to have a relationship with Him. Believing in Jesus is more than mere temporal
faith or simple intellectual assent—Authentic faith means seeing the depth of
our need, recognizing who Jesus is and what He did, and entrusting ourself to
Him as our Savior and Lord.
III. The Fallacy of mere intellectual assent (11-12). Consider the
example of the demons speaking truth in the context of their rebellion. We read
in Mark 3:11,12…
11 And
whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out,
"You are the Son of God."
12 And he strictly ordered them not to make him known…
We have seen these kinds of power
encounters already in Mark. As Jesus was teaching in the synagogue in
Capernaum, his hearers were fascinated because he didn’t teach like the
scribes, he taught with authority. And then it happened,
23 And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit.
And he cried out, 24 "What have you to do with us, Jesus of
Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are- the Holy One of
God." 25 But Jesus
rebuked him, saying, "Be silent, and come out of him!" 26 And the unclean spirit… came
out of him… (Mk 1:23-26).
The demoniac recognized
Him as “The Holy One of God.” And then he was silenced and cast out. Here
we are told a similar thing is happening. Demon possessed people were being met
by Jesus, and immediately the demons cried out, recognizing Jesus as the Son of
God. This is what a lot of people mean
when they say, “I believe in God.” They believe He exists, they might affirm
certain aspects of His attributes or nature. But they have no personal relationship,
no trust that He is concerned with their deepest need, and (this is the heart
of it) no intention of submitting to HIS authority as Lord and Master. James
said “You believe that God is one; you do
well. Even the demons believe- and shudder!” (Js 2:19). Contrast the shudder
of the demon, and the confession of Thomas, after the resurrection, when he confesses,
“My Lord and My God!” (Jn 20:28). There is faith, submission, belief, in
the words of Thomas. That is the faith that saves!
There is a difference between knowing about God, and knowing Him personally
and intimately. Some people think of “believing” in God like they think of
“believing” that George Washington was a historical person. They have never
seen Him, other than through written testimonies of others, maybe paintings
that claim to capture his likeness, yet they believe He existed, the Father of
our country, our first president. He was here “back then,” but they are not
trusting him to do anything for them today.
Some people say they believe in God in the sense that they believe “a
god” probably exists. For many people, rather than reading the Book God has
given us, they get their ideas about “god” from their own mind or from popular
culture. That is essentially idolatry. If
God IS, what should your response be?
Think of what the demons were saying: “You are the Son of God!” They are
affirming truth, right doctrine. They know who He is. What is the
problem? What is missing? James touched
on this when he said in James 2:19, cited above. If we believe Jesus is who He
claimed to be, we must trust Him, we will entrust ourselves to Him.
Humans have eternity in their hearts,
they have a sense that there is something beyond this life. Yet since the Fall
we resist coming to God on his terms. That would mean relinquishing control,
admitting that we are not autonomous, we don’t get to make the rules! If the
first verse of the Bible is true, if God is our Creator, if He is the Lord of
the Universe, we owe Him our allegiance, we owe Him our obedience. If He so
loved us that He gave His only Son… we owe Him our love. To believe in Him must
mean that we recognize who He is, and who we are. Sin had separated humans from
God. We were treading water, without hope, unable to save ourselves. He sent
the Rescuer, Jesus, to offer a way to forgiveness and life. Take the hand
of the Rescuer, take the strong hand of Jesus!
What is God saying to me in this passage? What does saving faith
“look like”? Authentic faith means seeing the depth of our need, recognizing
who Jesus is and what He did, and entrusting ourself to Him as our Savior and
Lord.
What would God have me to do in response to this
passage? Have you believed in Jesus, that is, have you
put your trust in Christ alone for eternal salvation? Two questions can help
you be sure: 1) Do you know for certain that if you were to die today that
you have eternal life? If you are not sure, the Good News is that you can be sure. In fact, that
is one reason the Bible was written (I Jn 5:13)! The second question can help
bring clarity to the heart of the matter… 2) If you were to die and stand
before God, and He were to ask you, “Why should l let you into my heaven?” What
would you say? If you are not sure, why not make sure, now, today? Our only
basis for being accepted is that Jesus died for us, taking the penalty for our
sins. Do you believe that? Be sure.
It is as simple as ABC, Admit
your need, that you are a sinner, and your sin separates you from God (Rom
3:23). Believe that Jesus died for your sins, and that He was raised the
third day. Confess Him now as your Savior and Lord. The Bible says “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you
will be saved…” In another place we read, “Confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that
God has raised Him from the dead, and you will be saved…” “For God so
loved the world that He gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in Him
should not perish, but have eternal life.” And, "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." That is Good News!
We have been entrusted with that
message! Will we share the Good News with those in our “sphere of
influence”? There are people in your oikos,
your household, your extended family and friends, who are lost. Pray for open eyes and an open heart, that we would see the need around
us. Let’s return to the
Coastguard analogy around for a minute. Now you are in the boat with the
Coastguard, and pull up to one of your friends in the water, barely keeping
their head above the surface, what do you do? Certainly not just wave, wish
them a good day, and go on your way! You would throw out a lifeline! Let’s be
ready to share the Word of Life this week! Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment